Individual Liberty — Individual Responsibility 

Civil War in Iraq, but not Palestine?

The Washington Times reports on another murder in Gaza...

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip -- Palestinian gunmen forced a Hamas commander to his knees and shot him to death early today outside the courthouse where he worked as an Islamic judge. The shooting escalated factional tensions in the Gaza Strip and prompted the Palestinian prime minister to cut short a trip abroad.

The death came two days after three young sons of a Fatah-allied Palestinian intelligence officer were killed in a drive-by shooting, sparking renewed conflict between the rival Hamas and Fatah factions. The violence has reduced chances for a unity government and pushed the two sides closer to civil war.

...

In Sudan, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a top Hamas official, said he would return to Gaza tomorrow, cutting short a trip to Arab and Muslim countries, including Iran and Syria. Mr. Haniyeh left Gaza on Nov. 28 on what was expected to be a monthlong trip.

Mr. Haniyeh dismissed fears of the violence in Gaza escalating into a civil war.

"We want to assure you that words such as 'civil war' don't exist in our dictionary. They don't exist in our makeup, in our culture," Mr. Haniyeh said in Khartoum, Sudan.

Witnesses to the shooting today said four gunmen calmly ate breakfast at a food stand as they waited for Mr. al-Fara outside the courthouse. When he emerged from a taxi, three of the men grabbed him and forced him onto his knees, while the fourth shot him. The attack left the sidewalk riddled with bullet holes. The witnesses declined to be identified, fearing for their safety.

Fatah and Hamas have been locked in a power struggle since Hamas ousted Fatah in parliamentary elections. More than 40 Gazans have died in battles between the two groups since Hamas took power in March.

Do you think Jimmy Carter, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and David Duke will find some way to blame this on Israel?

Trackposted to Rightwing Guy, Wake Up America, Perri Nelson's Website, third world county, The Random Yak, Adam's Blog, Planck's Constant, The Bullwinkle Blog, Dumb Ox News, Culturetastic, Conservative Cat, and Pursuing Holiness, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Ukraine Hospital killing babies?

From BBC News comes this disturbing bit of horror:

Healthy new-born babies may have been killed in Ukraine to feed a flourishing international trade in stem cells, evidence obtained by the BBC suggests.

...

Ukraine has become the self-styled stem cell capital of the world.

There is a trade in stem cells from aborted foetuses, amid unproven claims they can help fight many diseases.

But now there are claims that stem cells are also being harvested from live babies.

...

One campaigner was allowed into the autopsy to gather video evidence. She has given that footage to the BBC and Council of Europe.

In its report, the Council describes a general culture of trafficking of children snatched at birth, and a wall of silence from hospital staff upwards over their fate.

So we go from talking about killing newborn children with disabilities to snatching newborn children from their mothers and murdering them to sell their cells. The world has really fallen far since Roe v. Wade.

Previous Posts:

• The Church of England Advocates Murder!
• Doctors Advocate Murder!
• If it's just a clump of cells, why the outrage?

Hat tip: Sister Toldjah.

Trackposted to Perri Nelson's Website, The Bullwinkle Blog, third world county, Adam's Blog, Rightwing Guy, Pursuing Holiness, and Culturetastic, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe

Since when does the Constitution authorize Judges to design money?

The Justice Department has appealed a ruling by U.S. District Judge James Robertson. That ruling ordered the Treasury to make it easier for the blind to recognize different denominations of currency. From CBS News:

In his ruling, Robertson said that of 180 countries issuing paper currency, only the United States prints bills that are identical in size and color in all their denominations.

He said the current practice violates the Rehabilitation Act, a law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in government programs.

In the government's appeal, Justice Department lawyers argued that visually impaired people are not denied "meaningful access" to money by the way the nation's currency is designed.

...

Tara Cortes, president of Lighthouse International, an advocacy group for the blind, said the government's decision to fight making changes in the currency was "misguided and harmful to millions."

She said there are 1.3 million people in the United States who are legally blind and there will be millions more in coming years as the baby boom generation ages and more people fall victim to macular degeneration and other diseases that can affect vision such as diabetes.

"While the government may argue that changing the dollar bill will cost billions, it will pale in comparison to the costs of the vision loss epidemic," Cortes said.

The costs of the "vision loss epidemic"? Give me a politically correct break. Changing the currency won't defray any costs associated with a "vision loss epidemic". It'll just be another cost to add to any such epidemic.

Even the term "vision loss epidemic" is ludicrous. Sure there will be people who lose their sight as they age. I myself am at risk because I'm diabetic. But calling it an epidemic is over the top.

As for the Judge, I don't seem to be able to recall anything in the Constitution that authorized him to determine how U.S. currency is to be designed. The only place I can find that discusses it is in Article 1, section 8:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

...

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Nope, nothing in there that says that some Judge has that authority.

Sure, the Constitution does grant the courts the jurisdiction in cases that come under the laws of the United States, but it doesn't let them design our money.

In the government's appeal, Justice Department lawyers argued that visually impaired people are not denied "meaningful access" to money by the way the nation's currency is designed.

They noted the existence of portable reading devices that the blind can use to determine the denomination of paper money. The government said the blind can also use credit cards instead of currency.

Can you say "judicial overreaching?"